1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates generally to electrical connectors, and particularly to coaxial connectors, and more particularly to blind mate interconnects utilizing coaxial socket contacts having cantilevered arms that wrap around a central axis for improving mating cycle performance.
2. Technical Field
The technical field of coaxial connectors, including microwave frequency connectors, includes connectors designed to transmit electrical signals and/or power. Male and female interfaces may be engaged and disengaged to connect and disconnect the electrical signals and/or power.
These interfaces typically utilize socket contacts that are designed to engage pin contacts. These metallic contacts are generally surrounded by a plastic insulator with dielectric characteristics. A metallic housing surrounds the insulator to provide electrical grounding and isolation from electrical interference or noise. These connector assemblies may be coupled by various methods including a push-on design.
The dielectric properties of the plastic insulator along with its position between the contact and the housing produce an electrical impedance, such as 50 ohms. Microwave or radio frequency (RF) systems with a matched electrical impedance are more power efficient and therefore capable of improved electrical performance.
DC connectors utilize a similar contact, insulator, and housing configuration. DC connectors do not required impedance matching. Mixed signal applications including DC and RF are common.
Connector assemblies may be coupled by various methods including a push-on design. The connector configuration may be a two piece system (male to female) or a three piece system (male to female-female to male). The three piece connector system utilizes a double ended female interface known as a blind-mate interconnect (BMI). The BMI includes a double ended socket contact, two or more insulators, and a metallic housing with grounding fingers. The three piece connector system also utilizes two male interfaces each with a pin contact, insulator, and metallic housing called a shroud. The insulator of the male interface is typically plastic or glass. The shroud may have a detent feature that engages the front fingers of the BMI metallic housing for mated retention. This detent feature may be modified thus resulting in high and low retention forces for various applications. The three piece connector system enables improved electrical and mechanical performance during radial and axial misalignment.
Socket contacts are a key component in the transmission of the electrical signal. Conventional socket contacts used in coaxial connectors, including microwave frequency connectors, typically utilize a straight or tapered beam design that requires time consuming traditional machining and forming techniques. Such contacts, upon engagement, typically result in a non-circular cross section, such as an oval, triangular, square or other simple geometric cross section, depending on the number of beams. These non-circular cross sections may result in degraded electrical performance. In addition, when exposed to forces that cause mated misalignment of pin contacts, conventional beam sockets tend to flare and may, therefore, degrade the contact points. In such instances, conventional beam sockets may also lose contact with the contact pins or become distorted, causing damage to the beams or a degradation in RF performance. What is needed is a coaxial socket contact with reliable mating characteristics that can withstand repeated mating cycles without degradation of mechanical and electrical performance.